


Never Surrender

by JudyL



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-17
Updated: 2014-05-17
Packaged: 2018-01-25 12:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1648109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JudyL/pseuds/JudyL
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vin's stuck with an assignment he doesn't want. Vin F&D 1 Hour Fic Challenge -Theme word ‘cave’<br/>ATF AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Surrender

* * *

 

“No,” Vin said, shaking his head as he walked away from Nathan who couldn’t follow him very fast on crutches.

“Come on, Vin,” Buck pleaded. “Think of the ladies,” he added with a waggle of his eyebrow… the second one being covered with a bandage that protected Buck’s left eye.

“I said, no, Buck,” Vin repeated, picking up speed, his cheeks flaming at Buck’s insinuation. Bad enough to have the ladies ogling his rear end, he didn’t need that!

Vin reached the door to Team 7’s office and slipped in, closing it and wishing he could lock it to avoid his well-meaning team mates.

“Ah, Mr. Tanner,” the cultured, Southern-accented voice made Vin wince.

“Aren’t you supposed to be home keepin’ offa that wrenched knee?” Vin asked, wondering what excuse he could come up with to go home himself.

“I am resting it,” Ezra replied, waving a hand over his leg where it rested on a cushioned stool. “I wanted to address the issue of your assistance with…”

“Nathan’s coming,” Vin said, by way of distracting Ezra.

Ezra’s eyes widened and his eyes locked on the door to the office. “Isn’t he supposed to be at home?” he asked, almost desperately.

Vin chuckled. “I can wheel ya into the conference room,” he offered gleefully earning a glare from the undercover agent. He was saved only by the opening door and the entrance of the rest of the team. Vin sighed as the noise level in the room rose to new heights.

“Honestly, Josiah!” Nathan railed as he maneuvered expertly into the office on his crutches. “You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be driving! You shouldn’t even be out of bed!” he exclaimed, lifting a crutch off the ground as he started to wave his hand dramatically, only to almost fall as his balance was disrupted by the movement.

Josiah raised an eyebrow in what he hoped was Nathan’s direction. If he was honest, everyone was a little blurry. “Aren’t you supposed to be at home resting as well, brother?” he asked wryly.

Chris pushed past Buck and JD who had wisely stayed back from Nathan’s wild crutch swinging. “All of you were supposed to stay home, except Vin… and me,” he added with a wave of his casted wrist and a glare at all of them, including Ezra who was trying to hide behind his monitor. He let the glare sink in for a moment then sighed. “Since you’re here, you might as well get some work done. But we’re leaving early and you’re all going straight home!” he finished with an additional glare and glanced at Vin before entering his office.

Vin sank down in his chair trying to ignore Chris’ unspoken request.

“Now, Tanner!” came the bellow from his boss’s office.

Vin glared at the snicker that came from behind Ezra’s monitor. “Shut up, Ez,” he said as he slowly got up and made his way toward the lion’s den.

Chris looked up when Vin entered. “Have a seat.”

Vin shook his head and moved to lean against the window sill.

“Come on, Vin. It won’t be that bad.”

“I won’t do it, Chris. Let one of the others, I’ll do _anything_ else,” he added pleadingly.

“You _know_ you’re the only one of us who can do it, Vin,” he said. “Trust me, if I could take your place I would,” Chris said lifting his cast meaningfully. “It’s not that bad, only three sides, not completely enclosed and it’ll be lighted,” he added, hoping to comfort his friend.

Vin crossed his arms, keeping his head down so his hair blocked Chris’ view of his face.

“Vin? Talk to me.”

“’s not the claustrophobia,” he said softly.

Chris waited, knowing that admitting any short-coming was hard for Vin… hell, for any of them.

“Ain’t ya noticed that I never really get all the way in the water ‘fore?”

Chris frowned, trying to figure out what Vin meant. They had all spent many a day out at the lake or on the river. He tried to recall Vin’s level of involvement with the water, but couldn’t remember anything out of the ordinary. “I’ve seen you swim, Vin.”

Vin shrugged. “Yeah, I can swim, real good actually.” He sighed. “I just don’t like…” he paused, rubbing a hand over his face as he tried to put his fear into words.

“What happened, Cowboy?” Chris asked, suddenly realizing that this might be another incident like the one that caused Vin’s fear of closed-in places.

The sharpshooter nodded to himself and spoke in low tones. Chris strained to hear.

“Was in a foster home when I was about eight or so. Had two older ‘brothers’ who were takin’ swimmin’ lessons. Their ma thought it would be a good idea for me to go too and I didn’t know how to swim yet, so I was excited about it,” he said, his voice so monotone that Chris almost didn’t believe he had ever been excited about swimming.

“After class one day, they decided it would be fun to pick on me. I could dog-paddle by then, just. They were both more advanced and pretty confident in their skills. The oldest one convinced me that they could help me, had me take hold of one of those float boards,” Vin paused glancing at Chris to see if he knew what he meant.

Chris nodded, his heart aching for his friend.

“Anyways, they dragged me around the pool on the board while we waited for their ma. When they got me to the deep end they let go and started splashing me. They tugged at my legs and managed to dunk me quite a few times. I was always able to get back to the surface, but I’ve never really liked getting my face dunked or splashed. Always brings back that feeling of helplessness,” Vin finished dejectedly.

“How’d you learn to swim, Vin?” Chris asked.

“Huh?”

“After that, how’d you learn to swim? Why’d you ever learn to swim if you were so afraid?”

Vin frowned. “I wasn’t gonna let them beat me. Figured the only way to protect myself was to learn to swim better’n them.”

Chris just raised an eyebrow at Vin’s defiant stare.

“Larabee…” Vin growled, trying to bite back his grin.

“Tanner,” Chris said, not hiding his own fond smile.

“Damn it. I still don’t want to do it,” Vin argued, but his tone was lighter and the anxiety about his upcoming assignment had faded.

“Honestly, Vin, if there was anyone else able to, I wouldn’t ask.”

Vin sighed. “Okay. But you’re gonna owe me big for this, Chris.”

Chris stood and met Vin in front of the door. He offered his hand and Vin shook it. “Thanks, Vin. It’ll mean a lot to the kids.”

The Texan nodded.

“I promised Mary I’d buy a bucket of balls to support the cause,” Chris said with a smile as he headed back out into the bullpen.

Vin nodded again then stopped and stared at the back of Chris’ head. “You wouldn’t…” he stammered.

Chris chuckled. “You might want to tie your hair back and wear a black T-shirt. I’ve heard the ladies in the secretarial pool talking about getting the chance to see you in a wet one,” he added with an evil grin.

“Larabee!” Vin growled, not at all alarmed by the thought of this brother dunking him under the water.

The end


End file.
